Spring device for starting automobiles.



A. MARKMANN & W,. STAUTER. SPRING DEVICE FOR STARTING AUTOMOBILES.APPLICATION EILED DEC 1, 1911 Patented July 2, 1912.

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' A. MARKMANN & W. STAUTER. SPRING DEVICE FOR STARTING AUTOMOBILES.APPLIOATION FILED D130. 1, 1911.

1 31, 134,- v Patented July 2, 1912.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

all whom-ii may concern: r v Be it known-that we, ALEXANDER hfARK- @ldllitlll.

ALEXANDER ll'ffi iflllllllvlll' AND WILLS.

- ELEZSIGN'QRS 'lFO IGJlSRL MABKD'IANN, OFJDUSSELDDRE, GERMANY.

WIT-AUTER or nnssnnnonr GERMANY;

Application filed. December 1, 18-11. Serial No.

MAN-N and WILLY Snorer, both citizens of the Empireof Germany, residingat Dusseld rf in'the Empire of Germany; have infed anew and usefulSpring Device for arting Automobiles, of which the follow,- a.specification. l r

arinvention relates to improvements in devices for starting,automobiles.

" T." c chief feature of the improvement con- '3 inn spring-pressed gearwheel, which ented on a. pin parallel to the shaft i mg the rear wheelaxle by. means of ring, permanently meshes witha )inion, fastened fon asecond shaft to the first shaft and can be shifted :o engagement with apinion on the 1 shaft for winding up a helical spring surroundin thesecond shaft and connected at one end with the frame and at the otherend with the long pinion. The .gear wheel has on one side-arim providedwith a recess and a lug close thereto. .A' cross shaft. .nionntedjtoreel; in the frame carries'a handle and a curved arm, which is "adaptedto strike the lug and to. press against the rim on the gear wheel forsimultaneously braking the motor and shifting the gear wheel intoengagement with the pinion on the first shaft, until the curvedarm facesthe recess in the rim, whereupon the gear wheel by its spring isautomatically pushed back into its initial position. For'starting themotor the handle requires to be moved back for re leasing the gearWheel, whereupon the strained helical spring will turn back the secondshaft, which by means of a suitable transmission "turns the motor forstarting the automobile.

We will. nowproceed'to describe our. in vention witlrreference' to theaccompanying drawing-inwhich Figure l is :a plan View of an automobileprovided with the new spring devlce, .wneh occupies its normal,position, Fig. 2 s an elevation of the springdevice alone, the gearwheel being pushed into engagement with the pinion on the first shaft,Fig. is a plan View of the same," and Fig. 4 a similar View in which thegear wheel in its normal positionis locked;

hpecification of Letters Patent.

- frame 1/;

approved gearing contained in the box a and is adapted to drive the rearwheel axle 2 'y means of any known worm gearing contained in the casing3 The shafta has fastened on it a pinion e.

A pin'or-shaft- 6 parallel to the shaft a is mounted in the frame to andcarries a gear wheel 0, which is loose on it and can be longitudinallymoved. A helical spring (Z surrounding the pin Z) and inserted betweenthe gear wheel 0- and some part 10 of the tends to press the gear wheelfor ward into its normal position shown in Fig. 1. 'A cross'shaft (Zmounted in the frame to to rockhas fastened on-it a handle u and acurved arm Z, which can be best seen in Fig. 2. ".lhe gear wheel a hason its front side a rim 9, which serves as a brake and is provided witha. recess 8 and a lug rclose thereto. A stop 11 is-fastened on the frameto and is adapted to come in contact with the Normally the handle itoccupies a left position marked by a'singlev line in Fig. 2, so that theradial portion of the cur 'ed arm 6 loans on the edge of the rim In thenormal position shown at Fig. 1 the gear wheel 0 does not mesh with thepinion 0,011 theshaft' a, which is assumed to turn in' the direction ofthe spiral arrow. Vi hen, however, the handle it is moved rearward intothe other position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the curved arm willpush the gear wheel (7 by means of the rim rearward into engagement withthe pinion e, as is shown at Fig. 3.

A long shaft parallel to the shaft (1 is mounted in suitable bearings h7L on the frame to turn and has fastened on it" a long pinion f, withwhich the gear wheel 0 driven from the Patented JnlyZ, i912.

permanently .IILLSllS, no matter whethe it I occupies one or the otherextreme position on the pin. 7). A long helical spring 2 surrounds theshaft 9 between the pinion zin'dthe rear bear ng /1... Preferably therear end of the spring 2' is so bent as to engage-beneath the rearbearing 71 (see I hg;

l), and in a similar mtinnerthe front end of the spring'isso bent as toengageana'rn j .Iastened on theshaft g or connected with the long pinionj". The front end 'of'lt-heshaft g carries, a gear-wheel. Z, whichmeshes with another 'fone Z -on a shaft is parallel to' the .motor,shaft 7 and mounted to turn in the frame w. The front end of the" shaftis ca'rnes a chaln Wheel m which is connected bymeans of'an. endlesschain-n with another 'wheel 2 on the shaft 9 or near the gear wheel 55or the chain wheel at on the shaft her near the chain wheel 0 on themotor shaft p, s-o asi to connect at will the motor shaft 19 with thelong pinion f. We do not show nor describe this clutch and the mechanismfor, operating 1t, vention.

as it forms no part-offoilr in- The spring device ,described operates asfollows: Norma ll y during thedrive ofthe automobile the gear wheel 0ocup'iesthe position shown at Fig. 1,.in which the lug 1' the-recess sin v the arm t'engages in 4 will turn the tial position,

of its rim 9 is in contact with the-stop '11. Of course the helicalspring 2' is preferably so much strained as to possess a certain smalltension. Nhen it is desired to stop the automobile, they handle. it ismoved rearward, so as to press the curved arm t against the rim 9- andtherebyv to shift the gear wheel 0' rearward against the pressure of itshelical spring cl, Then the gear wheel a; will mesh with the pinion eand will be thereby turned in the direction of the arrow whilebeingbraked, so that the rim 9 slides on'the curved arm 25 and the. lug1 leaves behind the stop 0 until it strikesthis stop from the other sidesthe gear wheel, as is shown at Fig. 4t. About this time the automobilewill stop, or if not,

some ordinary brake'ma'y be used for stop.-

ping it. Of coursevthe gear wheel 0 will "have completed nearly onerevolution and will have turned the long p-inion' f in the samedirection as the shaft-a According to the ratio of the gear wheel c-ai'd the'pinion 50 f" the ,latter will have made" several revolutions andwound up the long helical spring maximum tension.

I the pinion with, the'motor shaft 19. When it is desiredto start theautomobile,

the lug-rand stops the gear wheel ,0. Meanwhile the pinion fWill havetransmitted its I rotation by means of the shaft (7, the gear the' frameparallel to vwheel movable on said pin and mesh-with" said pinion in oneposit1on,'a when the curved arm t will face a the rim and the spring atwill press the gear wheel'c forward, so that thegcess s and loo-ks topermanently mesh I said of engagement with said pinion,-

wheels} l thezfsh aft 7c, the chain wheel? and. amid the endless chain'n'to the motor,

shaft. p,.wh ichtherefore makes a few revo'- 'y-lutions, before themotor M commencesto properlywork- At thepr'oper moment the 'clutch 'isoperated. for disconnecting the 'motor shaft p from the pinionjff-The'spring device can be'varied without -departing froi'nthe spirit ofour invention;

i, .l ..'15 1. In an automobile, the comb nation with a shaft adapted todrive the rearvwheel axle, of a pinion fastened on said shaft, a pininthe- 'frame parallel to said shaft, a gear wheel movable on saidpinand adapted to mesh. with said pinion in one position, a

spring-adaptedto shift-said gear wheel out of engagement with saidpinion, a second shaft parallel to said shaft, along pinion fastened onsaid second shaft and adapted to permanently mesh with said gearwheel,

ahelicaLs ring surrounding said second shaft-and'conn'ected atone'end'with the frame, and at the other end with said long pinion,means for transmitting the motion from said long pinion to :the motorshaft,

means for pushing at will said gear wheel agalnst' the pressure andmeans for locking and releasing said gear wheel. Y I 2. In anautomobile, the combination with a shaft. adapted to drive the rearwheelaxle, of a pinion fastenedon said shaft, a pin in said shaft, a gearspring. adapted" to shift said'gear wheel out of engagement with saidpinion, a secondshaft parallel to said shaft, a long pinion of saidfirst named spring into engagement-with said pinion,

adapted to fastened on said second shaft and adapted a helical springsurrounding said second with said gear wheel, ,o

shaft and connected at one end with the frame i and ;at the'other endwith said long pinion, means for transmitting the motion from said longpinlonto the motor shaft, means for;

.pushingat will said gear wheel against the pressurelof said first namedsprmgm'to' en gagenient with said pinion, means for limiting the -turnof said; gear wheel wlnlepermitting it to return to its initial positionat the -end of the turn, and means for releasing said gear wheelandthereby said helical spring. 1 v I 3. The combination with a frame,of, a shaft in said frame adapted to bedriv'en, a pinion; fastened onsaid shaft, apin in frame-parallel to} said shaft, a .gear wheel movableon'said pin and-adapted to" mesh with said pinion "in one position, aspring adapted to shift said gear wheel but shaft in said frame parallelto 'said shaftalong pinion fastened on said second shaft a second

